Rock
Noah’s Barks pages related to the rock music genre. Combine with other tags for subgenres, e.g. “alternative+rock,” “noise+rock,” and “indie+rock.”
-
Blondie – “Eat to the Beat”
Eat to the Beat is an appropriate follow-up to Parallel Lines. Overall not as good, but very acceptable. “Dreaming” and “Union City Blue” (my favorite Blondie song!) drive it home. “Atomic” is also great, but the album version keeps the “Three Blind Mice intro” (exactly what it sounds like) which is juvenile and uninventive, really… (read more)
-
David Bowie – “Diamond Dogs”
“Rebel Rebel” is so much better than every other song on this album that it’s ridiculous. Everything else is average glam rock. Average by the Bowie standard, of course. With Diamond Dogs, David Bowie has dragged the glam phase of his career out a bit too long and sees him start to run dry. The… (read more)
-
David Bowie – “David Bowie” (1969)
There are some serious hints of brilliance on 1969‘s David Bowie in its beautiful psychedelic/folk songs “Space Oddity” and “Letter to Hermione.” “Wild Eyed Boy from Freecloud” and “Memory of a Free Festival” also deserve some mention. Most tracks on here have interesting segments to them, like the beginning of “Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed.”… (read more)
-
David Bowie – “Heroes”
Bowie’s vocals possess his typical rock swagger, and Robert Fripp’s erratic guitar work and Brian Eno’s backing synthesizers all combine perfectly to make "Heroes" one of the most schizophrenic pop rock albums ever made. Move over Ziggy Stardust; this is real music from Mars. (read more)
-
David Bowie – “Let’s Dance”
“Modern Love” and “China Girl” are fantastic pop songs and what make Let’s Dance so frustrating. It’s clear David Bowie‘s songwriting skills haven’t dried up yet with those two tracks, so you get the impression that he isn’t even trying with the rest of the songs on here. Most likely because he probably isn’t. David… (read more)
-
David Bowie – “Tonight”
Tonight isn’t as bad as its reputation suggests, being only a step down from Let’s Dance, which wasn’t a particularly good album by David Bowie standards, but it certainly wasn’t terrible. The singles definitely aren’t as strong, though. “Blue Jean” is the closest thing to a hit from this album, and Bowie’s had far better… (read more)
-
Fugazi – “Red Medicine”
There was a hot minute when Red Medicine was my favorite Fugazi album. I was probably (and reasonably) overexcited about hearing them take such a stronger direction towards the noise rock they always flirted with. Indeed, there are some Sonic Youth-esque jams here. When they get it on, the results are a Fugazi unlike all… (read more)
-
Catherine Wheel – “Happy Days”
‘Happy Days’ is overly heavy, thick, generic grunge-y alternative rock. A gigantic step down from ‘Chrome.’ (read more)
-
Have a Nice Life – “Deathconsciousness”
Deathconsciousness is a hodgepodge of various musical styles such as drone, post-punk, shoegaze, and industrial. It’s the most transparent, forced kind of “experimentation” and doesn’t feel authentic. These genres never combine to create something new: Have a Nice Life merely switch between them to appear eclectic. As such, Deathconsciousness has no sonic unity and is… (read more)
-
Catherine Wheel – “Chrome”
Woah, Chrome is pretty fucking cool. Dissonant alternative rock/shoegaze that perfectly captures the aquatic, drowning feel of the album cover. Lyrics are dark, the melodies are catchy and enveloping. A real trip where every song is a stand-out. To me, Chrome is Catherine Wheel‘s greatest album bar none, and one of the best alternative rock… (read more)